Method for qualitatively evaluating material

ABSTRACT

A method for qualitatively evaluating material with at least one identification characteristic, whose position can vary within an expectation range designated by tolerance limits, involves the use of at least one illuminating device, at least one photoelectric sensor and an evaluating device. At least one background reference value and at least one mask reference are stored in the evaluating device. The background reference represents the characteristics of a printed image, particularly the gray scale value, in at least one portion which surrounds the identification characteristic. The mask reference represents the geometrical contour of the identification characteristic. During inspection of the printed material, differential image data is found, at least from the expectation range, from the actual image data, and from the background reference value in the evaluating device. The actual position of the identification characteristic is subsequently derived in the evaluating device.

[0001] The invention relates to a method for the qualitative evaluation of material in accordance with the preamble of claim 1, 10 or 11.

[0002] One method is known from DE 196 13 082 C2, for example. In accordance with this method the imprinted material, for example sheets imprinted with bank notes or securities provided with a window thread, hologram or kinegram, are illuminated by means of an illumination device in such a way that the light reflected by the imprinted material falls into a photoelectric sensor. The image taken by the photoelectric sensor can subsequently be evaluated in an evaluation device, for example a standard computer with suitable evaluation software, and checked for printing errors.

[0003] In connection with bank notes in particular, but also with other types of imprinted material, it can occur that the position of identification characteristics varies in a defined expected area within defined tolerance levels because of previous production processes. For example, the position of a window thread in relation to the printed image of the bank notes can vary on a printed sheet because of the properties of the production process for producing the window thread. With image-dependent evaluation devices of the type it is possible that tolerance deviations of defined identification characteristics, which basically are tolerable, can lead to interferences with the printed image inspection because, when comparing a faultless printed pattern (master) with the actual printed image, one image position after the other image position are compared with each other, so that position deviations of identification characteristics are detected as errors, which they are not. With the method proposed in DE 196 13 082 C2, this problem is solved in that, because of suitable illumination steps, the identification characteristics whose positions vary, reflect the light emitted from the illumination device so strongly that these areas are recognized by the electronic evaluation devices because of their high degree of reflection and can be further processed accordingly. However, a prerequisite for such an evaluation is that the identification characteristics whose position varies have a sufficient reflection capacity, for example are embodied as silver threads.

[0004] It is disadvantageous in connection with the described method that identification characteristics, whose image properties do not sufficiently differ from the image properties of the remaining image when recorded by means of a photoelectric sensor, such as is the case with colored window threads, for example, cannot be detected with sufficient dependability by the evaluation device.

[0005] DE 100 00 364 A1 describes a method for detecting errors, which is based on characteristics. A mean background level is calculated and subtracted for amplifying the properties of certain characteristics.

[0006] A method for checking the print quality of printed images is known from DE 26 20 767 C2, wherein the partial images resulting from different printing processes are combined into a total pattern.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,037 A1 discloses a method for controlling printed images in which additional markers are imprinted. The position and density of these print markers is checked.

[0008] The object of the invention is based on providing a method for the qualitative evaluation of materials.

[0009] In accordance with the invention, this object is attained by means of the characteristics of claims 1, 10 or 11.

[0010] The invention rests on the basic concept to let additional known information regarding the identification characteristics enter the evaluation process in the course of evaluating positionally varied identification characteristics in which the optical properties, for example the ability to reflect, are insufficient for a dependable identification. It is assumed here as a premise that the positionally varied identification characteristics, for example a colored window thread, differ in their optical properties, for example the gray scale value, at least in partial areas from the remaining material to be inspected, for example a printed image, to such an extent, that at least there is no complete agreement between the identification characteristic and the printed image.

[0011] An advantage of the invention lies in particular in that additional information regarding the geometric shape known per se of the identification characteristic, or the relative arrangement of several identification characteristics existing in the printed image, are evaluated for determining the position of the positionally varied identification characteristic. These additional data are here placed into a mask reference, which is stored in connection with every material to be evaluated and represents the geometric data in a suitable form.

[0012] Furthermore, a background reference value is stored in the evaluation device, which represents the optical properties of the printed image in at least a portion of the adjacent area surrounding the identification characteristic. The properties of the background reference value must differ at least slightly from the optical properties of the identification characteristic to be detected. In the course of the inspection of the imprinted material, a difference image is formed from the actual image data and the background reference value, at least within the expected range. Substantially all characteristics of the printed image which correspond in their optical properties to the background reference value are blanked out of the difference image by subtraction. Only the area of the positionally varied identification characteristics, as well as other elements, such a printing errors and edge deviations, are shown in the difference image because of their deviation from the background reference value, wherein the areas of the positionally varied identification characteristics have particularly large amplitudes.

[0013] As soon as the difference image data are available, the difference image data are compared with the mask reference and the actual position of the identification characteristic, and conclusions are drawn regarding the actual position of the identification characteristic from the result of the comparison. This method step is based on the consideration that the difference image is substantially determined by the recording of the positionally varied identification characteristic, so that conclusions can be drawn regarding the actual position of the positionally varied identification characteristic from a large-scale congruence of the mask reference and the difference image. If, because of other error effects it is not possible to provide a sufficient congruence between the mask reference and the difference image data, this is harmless, since it merely results in an error indication in the printed image checking and in the removal of the respective sheet.

[0014] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the method of the invention, the areas of the printed image resulting from the actual position of the identification characteristic are blanked out in the subsequent qualitative evaluation of the imprinted material, so that interferences with the inspection of the printed image because of the positionally varied arrangement of the identification characteristic are made impossible.

[0015] The detection of the positionally varied identification characteristic can moreover be improved by storing a digitizing threshold. After the difference image has been formed from the actual image data and the background reference value, it is possible then to filter all image data, whose values fall below the digitizing threshold, out of the difference image. This means that only such image points remain in the difference image which differ with sufficient significance from the normal printed image, so that most of the other deviations, for example printing errors or edge deviations, can be blanked out of the difference image.

[0016] In the course of finding the position of the positionally varied identification character in the actual printed image it is possible to proceed in such a way that the mask reference is shifted until a maximum congruence between the mask reference and the difference image results. It is possible in the course of this to employ various mathematical weighting methods for weighting the congruence between the mask reference and the difference image in order to find the appropriate congruence maximum. It is of course possible to let adequately trained personnel evaluate the congruence by a visual inspection, however, because of the large cost for the personnel and the slow processing speed this is in most cases not sufficiently economical. Therefore the calculation of the congruence between the difference image and the mark reference should take place on the basis of suitable mathematical operations in data form, if possible.

[0017] One option for evaluating the congruence between the mark reference and the difference image is to calculate concentrations in accordance with the optical distribution of the image points in the difference image, and to compare these concentrations with the concentration of the mask reference. A maximum congruence results if the sum the focal difference between the mask reference and the difference image is minimized.

[0018] The storage of a suitable background reference value in the evaluation device it is a prerequisite for performing the method. In principle, the background reference value can be preset simply as a method parameter, based on experimental values. However, it is advantageous if the background reference value is determined specifically during a learning phase as a function of the respective printed image of the material to be inspected. Two alternatives for this are disclosed in what follows.

[0019] In accordance with the first alternative for the determination of the background reference value, imprinted learning material, which does not contain the positionally varied identification characteristic, is employed in the learning phase. For example, sheets imprinted with securities, in which the window threads are not contained, can be used for this. The background reference value can be derived by means of a suitable evaluation of this reference material without identification characteristics.

[0020] If a reference material without an identification characteristic is not available, it is also possible to perform the learning phase with reference material containing the positionally varied identification characteristics. If in the course of the evaluation of the printed image of the reference material the positionally varied identification characteristics stand out in comparison with the surrounding area by being bright, a threshold value is selected as the background reference value which corresponds to the values of the darkest image points of the identification characteristic. In the course of the subsequent evaluation of the imprinted material it is then assumed, starting with the threshold value, that at least in the expected area all image points which are darker than the background reference value are not a part of the positionally varied identification characteristic. However, if the identification characteristic appears dark in comparison with the surrounding area, a threshold value is selected as the background reference value whose value corresponds to the brightest image points of the identification characteristic.

[0021] To the extent it is required on the basis of the optical properties of the printed image, it is of course possible to define different background reference values for different areas of the imprinted material, so that the positionally varied identification characteristic is represented with sufficient significance in the difference image.

[0022] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is represented in the drawings and will be described in greater detail in what follows.

[0023] Shown are in:

[0024]FIG. 1, a schematically represented difference image in a plan view from above,

[0025]FIG. 2, a difference image in accordance with FIG. 1 following the performance of the digitizing process,

[0026]FIG. 3, the mask reference for determining the position of the positionally varied identification characteristic in the difference image in accordance with FIG. 2,

[0027]FIG. 4, the congruence of the difference image in accordance with FIG. 2 and the mask reference in accordance with FIG. 3,

[0028]FIG. 5, a second mask reference in a schematically represented lateral view,

[0029]FIG. 6, a second reference image in a schematically represented lateral view.

[0030] The difference image 01 in accordance with FIG. 1 was formed during the inspection of sheets imprinted with securities, wherein only a portion of the difference image in the area of a bank note is represented in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 it can be seen that the normal printed image of the bank note is blanked out in the difference image 01, and only the areas of the printed image which significantly differ from the background reference value are shown as dark fields in the difference image. The position of a window thread 03, which has been incorporated into the imprinted sheet and which is represented in the difference image 01 in five dark fields 03 in accordance with its perforations, can vary in a strip-shaped area of expectation 02 shown in dashed lines.

[0031] Besides the five dark fields 03 resulting in the representation of the window thread 03, still further printed image characteristics are represented as dark fields 04, for example as printing errors 04, in the difference image 01.

[0032]FIG. 2 shows the difference image 01 after a suitable digitizing process, by means of which irrelevant dark fields 04 were filtered out. As a result, only the dark fields 03 caused by the window thread 03 appear as significant in the difference image 01.

[0033]FIG. 3 represents a mask reference 06 in its geometric shape. The data for the width 07 and the length 08 of the window thread perforations is stored in the mask reference. Furthermore, the values for the distance 09 between the window thread perforations, and the number of window thread perforations per bank note are stored in the mask reference 06.

[0034] As schematically represented in FIG. 4, in the course of the evaluation the mask reference 06 is shifted in relation to the difference image 01 by data-employing operations until a maximum congruence between the mask reference 06 and the dark fields 03 results in the difference image 01. If this maximum of congruence has been reached, it is possible to deduce the actual position of the window thread 03 in the printed image from the distances 11, 12, for example of the actual positions in the X and Y directions of the mask reference 06 relative to the edges of the bank note, so that in the course of a subsequent inspection of the printed image the areas of the window thread perforations can be blanked out.

[0035]FIG. 5 shows a second mask reference 13, which represents eight dark fields 14 corresponding to eight window thread perforations during an inspection on a concavely curved support surface.

[0036]FIG. 6 schematically represents a difference image 18, wherein the window thread perforations 14 have been represented in dark fields 17, for example window threads 17. In this case the dark field 18 was caused by a printing error 18, and not by a window thread perforation 14. Moreover, a window thread perforation 14 at the center is not represented in the difference image 16 because of the insufficient color difference between the background and the window thread 17.

[0037] For simplifying the comparison between the mask reference 13 and the difference image 16 for finding positions, the mask reference 13 is projected onto a projection line 19, and the light-dark distribution resulting therefrom is compared with a light-dark distribution resulting from the projection of the difference image 16 onto the projection line 21. The position of the window thread 17 can be determined in one direction by means of this one-dimensional comparison of the light-dark distribution.

[0038] List of Reference Symbols

[0039]01 Difference image

[0040]02 Area of expectation

[0041]03 Dark field, window thread

[0042]04 Dark field, printing error

[0043]05 -

[0044]06 Mask reference

[0045]07 Width (06)

[0046]08 Length (06)

[0047]09 Distance between two mask references

[0048]10 -

[0049]11 Distance, actual position in the X direction

[0050]12 Distance, actual position in the Y direction

[0051]13 Mask reference

[0052]14 Dark field, window thread perforations

[0053]15 -

[0054]16 Difference image

[0055]17 Dark field, window thread

[0056]18 Dark field, printing error

[0057]19 Projection line

[0058]20 -

[0059]21 Projection line 

1. A method for the qualitative evaluation of material with at least one identification characteristic, wherein at least one background reference value and at least one mask reference (06, 13) are stored in the evaluation device, wherein the background threshold value represents the properties of the material to be inspected in at least a part of a surrounding area, which extends around the identification characteristic, and wherein the mask reference (06, 13) represents the geometric outline of the identification characteristic and/or the relative arrangement of several identification characteristics in respect to each other, in the course of the inspection of the imprinted material difference image (01, 16), at least for the area of expectation (02) is formed from the actual image data and the background reference value, the actual position of the identification characteristics is derived from the comparison of the difference image (01, 16) with the mask reference (06, 13) in the evaluation device.
 2. The method in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the area of the material to be inspected, which results from the actual position of the identification characteristic, is blanked out in the course of a subsequent evaluation step for the qualitative evaluation of the imprinted material.
 3. The method in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the position of the identification characteristic varies within a area of expectation (02) defined by tolerance limits.
 4. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a digitizing threshold is stored in the evaluation device, wherein all image data whose value lies below the digitizing threshold are filtered out of the difference image (01, 16).
 5. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that in the course of finding the position of the identification characteristic, the mask reference (06, 13) is shifted until a maximum congruence between the mask reference (06, 13) and the difference image (01, 06) results.
 6. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that in the course of finding the position of the identification characteristic a concentration calculation with a comparison of the concentrations of the mask reference (06, 13) with the concentrations of the difference image (01, 06) takes place.
 7. The method in accordance with claim 6, characterized in that those position values are assumed to be the actual position of the identification characteristic wherein a minimal deviation as a whole results in the comparison of the concentrations of the mask reference (06, 13) with the concentrations of the difference image (01, 06).
 8. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the identification characteristic is embodied in a strip shape, or has strip-shaped sections.
 9. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the identification characteristic is embodied as a security characteristic of a bank note, in particular as a window thread (03, 17) or window thread perforations (14), a hologram, or kinegram.
 10. A method for the qualitative evaluation of material by means of at least one background reference value, characterized in that for defining the background reference value an imprinted reference material without an identification characteristic is employed in one learning phase, wherein the background reference value is derived from the properties of the material to be inspected, in particular in the area of expectation (02).
 11. A method for the qualitative evaluation of material by means of at least one background reference value, characterized in that for defining the background reference value an imprinted reference material with at least one identification characteristic is employed in one learning phase, wherein, with an identification characteristic which stands out in comparison with the surrounding area by being bright, the background reference value is derived as the threshold value from the values of the darkest image points of the identification characteristic and wherein, with an identification characteristic which stands out in comparison with the surrounding area by being dark, the background reference value is derived as the threshold value from the values of the brightest image points of the identification characteristic.
 12. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that different background reference values are defined for different areas of the imprinted material.
 13. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the mask reference (13) and the difference image (16) are each projected onto at least one projection line (19, 21), wherein the actual position of the identification characteristic in the linear direction of the projection lines (19, 21) is derived from the comparison between the projection data of the mask reference (13) and the difference image (16).
 14. The method in accordance with one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the evaluation in the evaluation device is performed by means of suitable mathematical operations of digitized input data. 